Now that high school is over, Ari is dying to move to the big city with his ultra-hip band―if he can just persuade his dad to let him quit his job at their struggling family bakery. Though he loved working there as a kid, Ari cannot fathom a life wasting away over rising dough and hot ovens. But while interviewing candidates for his replacement, Ari meets Hector, an easygoing guy who loves baking as much as Ari wants to escape it. As they become closer over batches of bread, love is ready to bloom . . . that is, if Ari doesn’t ruin everything.

I received this book for free from First Second (Macmillan) for review consideration. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

What else can find in the kitchen besides baked goods and baking? For Ari, love.

Love for an easygoing Samoan baker who is in Ari’s beach town to take care of family stuff, and revitalizing his love for his Greek family’s bakery.

Ari wants bigger things.

He has big aspirations; he wants to go out into the world and make music with his band, not be stuck at his family’s struggling bakery. Because of this, he and his father argue constantly about what wants and expectations. It’s not that he doesn’t love his family or doesn’t want to see the bakery do well. He just graduated from high school; it’s just not something he wants to do for the rest of his life. Everybody can relate to family expectation and their family wanting to maintain a legacy.

The illustrated montages will make you want to pull these baked goodies out of the pages. You can feel the passion and the love radiating off of these pages. That’s how fantastic Savanna Ganucheau’s art is. You’ll want to hug all these delicious breads and these characters into your arms and tell them how wonderful they are.

You’re gonna fall in love with these boys.

It’s so darn sweet that these two teenager boys falling in love due to baking. Baking is like a metaphor for falling in love. You have all these ingredients that somehow works together when you put it all together and bake it for a certain amount of time to make delicious baked goodies. These boys spend a lot of time putting these ingredients together and in the process, bonding and eventually falling in love.

It felt like it wrapped up quickly in a neat little bow even though there was so much more story to tell.

Addison’s story was wrapped up quickly in a neat little bow. She has her ending and her sister, living happily ever after without the Zone looming over them. However, The Broken Vows teased us about the reality these creatures live in. Where’s that story? You can’t just tell me this huge thing about them and pull the rug from under me! There’s still so much to be told.

The art is so perfect.

Savanna Ganucheau portrays these characters and these scenes so beautifully. It’s woven together so naturally. The book may only use shades of blue, black, and white, but those three colors accentuates the illustrations. The baking scenes are gorgeously detailed; it’s a whirlwind of scenes mixing with each other.

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about me

I'm Cee, queen of all things delightful!
Well, in my head.

The Novel Hermit is written by a daydreamer who loves books and thinks they are absolutely delightful. You will find YA, reviews, comics, discussion, letters, fonts + book cover love, and lots of fangirling squealing. What more can you ask for?

Disclaimer

All of the books I review either have been purchased by me, borrowed from the library, and sent to me by the publisher (the latter of which I will note). All the words and opinions in this blog are my own. I am not paid to write reviews. Synopsis are taken from either the back of the book or from Goodreads.com. Any use and/or duplication of my material without permission from me (the author and owner of The Novel Hermit blog) is strictly prohibited.